Page:Poems, Consisting Chiefly of Translations from the Asiatick Languages.djvu/40

From which th' envenom'd dregs of deadly hue
Flow'd on the ground in streams of baleful dew,
And, slowly stealing through the wither'd bower,
Poison'd each plant, and blasted every flower:
Fled were his slaves, and fled his yielding fair,
And each gay phantom was dissolv'd in air,
Whilst in their place was left a ruthless train,
Despair, and grief, remorse, and raging pain.

Aside the damsel turns her weeping eyes,
And sad reflections in her bosom rise;
To whom thus mildly speaks the radiant queen:
"Take sage example from this moral scene;
"See, how vain pleasures sting the lips they kiss,
"How asps are hid beneath the bowers of bliss!
"Whilst ever fair the flower of temperance blows,
"Unchang'd her leaf, and without thorn her rose;
"Smiling she darts her glittering branch on high,
"And spreads her fragrant blossoms to the sky."

^[**]Next tow'rd the throne she saw a knight advance;
Erect he stood, and shook a quivering lance;